The Lotus and the Hammer
by crazyfangirlwriter8
Summary: After Pyrrha's death the rest of team JNPR is forced to face the death of one of their best friends and team mates with an unsure future set before them. Ren and Nora have once again lost someone who was close to them, how will this lose effect them and their relationship in the journey to come?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first RWBY and specifically Renora fanfiction (Yeah! OTP!). I plan for this to be a story that follows Ren and Nora from the end of Volume 3 on, I will be focusing on the progression of their relationship from friends to the newly canon couple that they are now (Hell Yes!) The rating of this story may be taken up to an M eventually, but we will see. Sorry if any of the characters seem OOC, I'm still getting used to writing them. Thank you so much for reading! Now Read and enjoy and please comment what you think when you are done or if there is anything you would like to see.**

The battle was over, the smoke had settled. The medics had just taken Blake and Yang away and Nora and Ren were trying their best to support each other as they waited for more medics to come. Ren had finally been able to get to his feet, and although he felt as if he had been hit by a truck, he was at least able to move. Nora was a different story; she had been hit harder by the robot. She had allowed Ren to look her over, and he had found that along with a few minor bruises and cuts along her arms and legs, it almost looked like her torso was covered in a giant bruise (Ren could guess that there were probably a few broken ribs, but at her small gasp of pain when she tried to hide it convinced him not to panic), along with a sprained ankle. Nora's injures weren't grave, but she would need medical attention eventually.

They sat together on the tarmac. As Ren knelt next to Nora, they were watching the dragon Grimm circle the tower, as Nora was squeezing Ren's hand in her's as they watched. Sun was standing not far from them, along with others who didn't require medical attention, nobody spoke as they watched. Gasps could be heard when the dragon came closer to the tower. Nora clutched his hand tighter and he turned to look at her.

There was so much fear in her eyes. It always broke his heart whenever he saw his best friend this way, but he understood what she was thinking, he was thinking the same thing. They still didn't know where the other half of their team was. Jaune and Pyrrha were still missing, and last they had seen them was when they were heading to the tower, followed by Ruby and Weiss only a few minutes ago.

Ren felt the knot in his stomach tighten as the dragon came closer to the tower yet again and he heard a small whimper come from Nora. He shifted in order to put his arm around her to pull her closer when the dragon crashed into the tower, knocking the top part off.

"No!" Nora's screams mixed in the with the other outbursts of fear that came from around them.

Ren felt shocked, but they still watched. They could now make out small flashes of light coming from the top of the tower. Ren closed his eyes and prayed to whatever deity was out there that the flashes meant that it was a friend who was winning. It was only a few seconds after the flashes stopped that someone let out a cry and Ren noticed a white light that seemed to be growing at fast from the top of the tower.

Without thinking he jumped in front of Nora, clenching her to his chest and blocking her as everyone else blocked their faces from the burning light.

Nora let out a small sob into his chest. She grabbed onto his shirt, as he buried his head into her hair and inhaled the sweet scent that was Nora. He closed his eyes from the light and felt the heat on his back.

Just as quickly as it came, the light dimmed, and chaos began. People were rushing around, yelling. The medics had apparently returned and were trying to find who needed medical attention, but were struggling to make their way through the panicked crowds.

People were running around when Ren pulled away slightly to look down at Nora. Her face was covered in tears that he hadn't noticed were soaking his shirt. Her wide, sky blue eyes looked up at him and he felt transported.

All of a sudden it was the night of his parents' deaths again and he was under the building with Nora as chaos went on all around them. He saw her as the little girl again, in dirty clothes that were ripped and about two or three sizes too small for her, her vibrant orangish red hair matted and knotted. She was shaking in his arms with the tears falling down her cheeks, showing the fear of someone who knew what it was like to have your family torn away was present once again in her eyes.

He lifted his hand and used his thumb to wipe away her tears as she looked into his eyes. He saw her lips form the names of their teammates.

"They're going to be okay." Ren answered, but he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure her or himself.

His words seemed to have an affect as Nora nodded and gave him a weak smile. It was small, but it was an improvement.

He looked up and saw Sun talking to some of the medics and pointing towards where they were. It was moments later that he felt someone trying to wrench Nora from his grasp. On instinct he tightened his grasp on her before he felt people prying on his arms.

As they managed to released her from his grasp he saw the fear return with even more strength to her eyes.

"Ren!" Her frantic cry rose above the chaos. He felt as if the knot was going to tear through his body; his blood ran cold and adrenaline pumped through him, making his pain seem like nothing compared to the pain in his heart caused by the panicking Nora and the fact that they were trying to separate her from him.

He struggled against the hands that held him back as someone lifted Nora and started to drag the flailing girl in the opposite direction. He felt the panic blossom in his chest as they managed to pick the injured Nora up.

Suddenly the rational side of him kicked in and knew what he had to do. He forced himself to close his eyes and take a deep breath as he heard Nora's yells pierce through him. He forced himself to take a deep breath and relax his muscles against the grips on him as much as he could.

"Let go of me." He growled dangerously low, "She's my partner."

He felt the hands on him relax their grip just enough for him to break free, he ran in the direction that he had seen the medics take Nora. He didn't hesitate to shove anyone in his path out of his way as his legs carried him as fast as they could, his pain all but forgotten. He finally caught up to Nora, where the medics had finally been able to load Nora onto a stretcher. Several medics were trying to hold down a struggling Nora, in order to to keep her from further injuring herself.

"Nora!" At his yell Nora's head turned towards him allowing him to see the tears in her eyes.

He didn't hesitate to rush towards the stretcher, pushing the medics holding Nora down to the side and grasping her hand in his.

"Ren!" She cried, smiling up at him like he was her whole world. He felt like his heart skipped a beat, a feeling rose up in him that he couldn't name, that made him feel a warm buzz. The feeling had only grown stronger in the last few years, coming back up almost everytime he saw Nora. It was a pleasant feeling, in fact he found that he enjoyed it most of the time, but he couldn't focus on it right now, so he tried to put it at the back of his mind and focus on Nora right now.

"Everything is going to be fine." He whispered to her as he wiped away her tears, there was nothing he hated more than seeing his best friend cry.

"Promise?" the hammer-wielder sniffled.

"I swear," Just then he felt the medics trying to pull him away again. "I'm her partner!" He growled at the medics and felt them back off of him.

"Please don't leave me Ren! Please never leave me again!"

"I swear, there is nothing that could make me leave you."

Ren was rewarded with a genuine smile from the small Valkyrie, which he returned with a smile of his own that made Nora's grow even brighter. The warm feeling returned as they were taken to the airship that would take them to one of the medic stations. Ren kept a hold of Nora's hand as she went on, talking about the battle they had just fought.

When they finally got to the medic post, Ren refused a bed of his own in the crowded tent. Instead he sat on the edge of Nora's as the doctor came to look at both of them a few minutes later.

Ren had a good bit of bruising and a few minor cuts, but nothing extensive or anything that would need any stitching. Nora was worse off. Ren had been right, the doctor said she had three cracked ribs, (thankfully none had pierced anything important) and she had a twisted ankle. The doctor worked quickly to set her ribs and ankle before telling them that a nurse would be around with some new clothes, food, and water, and that he would come back to check on Nora in the morning. After that he closed a curtain to block them off from everyone else before he moved on to the next person.

Nora and Ren sat in silence for a few minutes, both were lost in their thoughts as Ren sat on the edge of her bed and she held onto his hand. After a few minutes Nora broke the silence.

"Have you heard anything from Jaune and Pyrrha?"

"Not yet." Ren had messaged the both of them multiple times, but neither had answered yet.

"Do you think they are okay?"

"I'm sure they are."

Truthfully, Ren had no idea, but he knew that was what Nora needed to hear.

"What if they aren't?"

"They will be."

They sat there for another few minutes wondering about the fate of their teammates,who, in the last few months, had became like an adopted family to the two orphans.

The nurse came by and left them two rations along with two water bottles and changes of clothes.

Ren quickly picked up his change and was quick to undress and redress himself as he directed Nora to look away for a minute. He sighed once he was dressed in the change of issued black sweats and white shirt. His old outfit was so messy and torn that there would be no way to scavenge it; he would have to get his change from the dorms when they were allowed back. Nora would probably have to do the same.

When he turned around however, he found that Nora was still just sitting in bed and hadn't moved much. She was staring at her hands and biting her bottom lip with her brow furrowed. He walked over to her, gently putting a finger under her chin and lifting her head to look at him.

"It hurts," she whimpered, placing a hand on her stomach that was covered in bandages.

Ren picked up the change of clothes from the end of the bed before walking up to her.

"Are you okay if I..." Ren gestured to the clothes in his hand as a way of asking permission.

"Not like you haven't seen me in my bathing suit before. How different is it really Ren?"

"Right." Ren nodded.

The next few minutes were spent with them working together to get Nora undressed. The first thing was to get her out of her vest and armor. Nora had already unbuttoned it, so Ren just had to slip it off. After that was tossed to the side, Ren had to deal with his friend's tight fitting turtleneck, which was soaked with blood and sweat, already pushed up for the bandages. Ren grabbed both sides and instructed Nora to lift her arms as he lifted it over her head. He tried his best to avoid looking at her bra, but did catch a few glances of the pink lacy article she was wearing. He quickly took the thick white shirt and pulled it on over Nora's head and smoothed out the baggy shirt. When he looked at Nora he saw a light blush on her face as she was looking away from him. Next, he helped her readjust herself so he could help her take off her skirt. He quickly undid her skirt and helped her slide it off. He took note with a slight fascination that unlike her bra, Nora's panties were a shade of green close to the one he prefered, when he realized that he was looking he quickly looked away, his cheeks growing as red as Pyrrha's hair as he grabbed the black sweatpants and helped Nora slip them on.

"Tha-thank you Ren." Nora was looking back at her lap with her cheeks blushing the color of her skirt.

Ren gave her a small smile of reassurance as he went to put her clothes with his. He looked down at the clothes in his hand and saw their ripped and stained state, they would need to be replaced along with his when they got back to the dorms.

After he had put them in a pile with his own ruined clothes and promised himself he would throw them away later, he went back over to Nora. She shifted slightly to one side of the bed before patting the bed beside her. He sat down on the bed next to her. As soon as he was settled, Nora shifted so she was cuddled into his chest and he drew the blankets up around them both. Once the were settled in, Nora began to speak.

"Hey, Ren?"

"Yes Nora?" he said with her back to his chest, his hand running through her hair.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For saving me when we were kids. For always making pancakes for me. For holding me when I'm scared or have nightmares. For taking care of me. For being my best friend since we were little. For being the one person I can always call my family. Just thank you Ren, for everything."

"Where is this coming from?"

"I know I talk a lot, but I don't tell you how much you mean to me a lot."

"Nora..."

"You mean the world to me, and I don't know what I would do without you. And if something were to happen and you didn't know that, then I don't know what I would do."

"Nora…"

"I mean it! There are so many times that we could have lost each other, and I'm not sure if I would have been able to move on if you were gone." Ren felt Nora's body give a shudder and heard a small sob that Nora tried to cover. "You're my family Ren." He felt her body shudder again, and made a decision of what had to be done.

He sat up and shifted the two of them so he was facing her, he could see that tears were once again trailing down her face. He slowly wiped them away with his thumb.

"You have saved me, just as many, if not more times than I have saved you Nora. You are my world Nora. You keep me going, I would be completely lost without you. We are family." He felt the feeling he had before rise up even stronger, he wanted to name it so bad, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Please don't ever doubt yourself Nora." He finished and allowed her to pull him into a hug.

It was a little while later. Nora had ended up just talking for a while on whatever came to her mind, she seemed to be in better mood after their talk. Nora had ended up falling asleep, talking about a new movie that was coming out in a month that she wanted to see, slowly trailing off and ended up falling asleep with her head rested on Ren's chest and his arms wrapped around her. It reminded him of before they began to go to school to train to be hunters, when they used to just try and find a safe place to sleep for the night and curl up together for warmth or provide a sense of safety, then later at the orphanage when they would curl up in a bed together and hide from the other children.

He sat there listening to Nora's breathing and watching her chest rise and fall. He felt himself nodding off when he heard the curtains separating them rustle. A second later he saw a familiar figure walk in through the curtains in the dim light.

"Jaune?" Ren whispered, trying to not wake up Nora.

"There you are Ren," Jaune's words were slurred, he was drunk. Ren watched as his eyes went to an unconscious Nora and a look of horror took over his face. "Is she?"

"Nora's fine, just a few broken ribs and a twisted ankle. She'll be fine." Ren rose out of bed, doing his best to gently move Nora so she didn't wake up. Once he was out from under his partner he glanced at Jaune to see that Jaune was swaying on his feet; he looked tired and beaten down. Ren quickly made his way over to the curtains, quietly pushing one open and gesturing for Jaune to follow him out.

"I don't want to wake up Nora," he explained once they were outside. In the harsher light Ren saw just how much of a wreck his leader was. "Jaune, are you drunk?"

Jaune just nodded as he tried to block the light from his eyes, tear tracks were evident on his face under the harsh light.

"You look like a wreck. I've been trying to contact you for hours Jaune, where have you been."

"Broke my scroll" Jaune mumbled looking at his feet.

Ren sighed, "What happened Jaune? Where's Pyrrha?"

At his words, the blonde huntsman started to cry, his shoulders shaking as tears poured down his face.

"Jaune?"

"She's gone Ren. She went to fight Cinder and she is gone! They can't even find a body! She killed her! Cinder killed Pyrrha!"

"What?" The magenta eyed huntsman felt shock take over his body. It couldn't be. There was no way Pyrrha, the noble fighter with a heart of gold, was dead.

"She's dead Ren! How many times do I have to say it! She is dead!"

Ren felt himself sink down to the floor as the realization washed over him, his heart stung as he realised he had lost someone who Nora and he and very much considered a sister. Jaune continued going off as Ren allowed his head to hit one of the poles of the curtains behind him.

Eventually Jaune's drunk hysterical rant faded out and Ren watched as his friend sunk down next to him. Looking so defeated, as if his whole world had just been ripped out from under him.

"What happens now, Ren?" Jaune looked at the smaller boy who sat next to him, looking for any sign of what was supposed to happen next.

Ren's mind was a swimming. He had no idea what to think, the grief was the only thing his mind was stuck on. Then he heard a noise come from behind the curtains in front of them, where Nora was.

"No! Stop it! Ren!"

The screams of his best friend spurred Ren to his feet and towards the curtains. They had to tell Nora. Jaune seemed to have the same thought.

"Nora." Jaune struggled to get to his feet before Ren held out his hand to signal Jaune to stay where he was. Ren knew that it would be best for him to do this.

When Ren entered the curtained off area Nora was still yelling out his name and was tossing in her cot. Ren ran over to her side, grabbing her hand in his and gently shaking her awake.

"Ren!" When Nora woke up she launched up and grabbed him in a tight hug, pulling him down on the bed next to her.

"I had such a bad dream Renny! Where did you go?"

"Jaune came back."

Nora bolted upright looking at Ren with surprise, joy, and worry.

"Really? Is he okay? Where is he? Why didn't he answer his scroll earlier? Did he get hurt?"

"Jaune's okay, he's standing outside right now," Nora went to get out of bed before Ren put a hand up to block her. "I need to tell you something Nora."

"What is it Ren?" She looked at him with curiosity clouding her crystal blue eyes, and he found himself unable to meet them, instead he looked at his hands as the knot came back, tearing at his insides.

"Pyrrha... Pyrrha's not coming back." He felt her pull even further away. He looked up to her only to be absolutely shocked when he saw her small smile and a slight giggle escape her lips.

"Oh haha, very funny Ren," she rolled her eyes. "You know those sort of jokes are just bad. Now really, where is Pyrrha?" As she said that, Ren heard the curtains rustle and heard someone walk in. "Jaune! I'm so glad you're okay! Did you hear the bad joke Ren told me! He said that Pyrrha wasn't coming back! Can you believe that? Is Pyrrha outside where you were? You can tell her to come in now Jaune, I'm fine, I'm not that injured." Ren watched as Nora's smile faded as she took in Jaune's disheveled and somber look before looking back at him. He didn't know what she saw, but he saw a look of panic and worry cross her face. "This really isn't that funny of a joke guys, I mean really shame on you for trying to pull such a mean prank on me! This isn't funny at all! I bet you Pyrrha is just outside of the curtains waiting to jump in so you can all laugh at me! Here I'll prove it!"

With that Nora jumped out of bed, seeming to have forgotten about her twisted ankle as she went to head to the exit before letting out a small squeak of pain and began to fall before Ren caught her supporting her.

"She's dead Nora!" Jaune seemed furious as Nora struggled against Ren to go look for Pyrrha. Jaune approached the girl, roughly grabbing her arm and yanking her away from Ren to look at her. "Pyrrha is dead, so stop trying to deny it! She is dead and not coming back, so shut up!"

Ren could smell the alcohol from where he was as Nora began to shake.

"No! No! Please no!" Nora cried as Ren rushed up and snatched Nora away from Jaune. Jaune may be his team leader, but no one treated Nora like that.

Ren was able to get Nora away from Jaune, picking her up by her waist and putting her back on the cot before turning back to Jaune and roughly shoving him towards the curtains.

"Go. Go and come back when you are sober." At that Jaune stumbled out of the area as Ren knelt next to the sobbing Valkyrie.

"Please tell me this isn't happening."

"I'm so sorry Nora." Ren felt tears falling from his eyes as he looked up at Nora.

That night they fell asleep holding each other, crying and mourning the loss of a sister and friend.

Ren's dreams started that night with him and Nora under the building in Kuroyuri. He looked at the little Nora, covered in dirt and shaking in fear as he handed her the small wooden hammer he had found. She took it from him eagerly.

"My name is Lie Ren. What's your's?"

"Nora" she whispered as she gave him the first of many smiles he would see her give him.

Suddenly everything changed and he was in the battle of Beacon once again, fighting side by side with Nora against waves of Grimm. When suddenly he saw a beowulf overwhelm Nora, he rushed to her and killed the Grimm, only to see the small girl laying in a puddle of her own blood.

He knelt down beside her and held her in his arms as she opened her eyes and gave him a smile, just like the one under the building in his home village when they first met.

"Stay with me Nora! Please! You have to stay with me!"

"Boop" she gently poked his nose as he watched the life drain from her as her body went limp.

He felt as if he himself had been killed as he screamed out her name over and over again, shaking her limp body as desperately as possible.

"Nora! Nora!"

"Ren!"

With the call of his name Ren woke up, sitting up and looking around he saw Nora sitting next to him with her hand on his shoulder. He gave her a smile to try and reassure her, she gave him back a slight nod, before they both laid back down.

This is what they did, they watched after each other and protected each other, even if it was just against bad dreams.

Nora wrapped her arms around Ren's waist as he wrapped his around hers in response. They would be okay, as long as they had each other.

 **Thank you for reading! Love you all! I'll be trying to update every Monday so be sure to follow and comment below!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to everyone who** **favorited** **and followed last chapter! Here is the next chapter! It's a bit shorter and has switched to Nora's point of view. Love you all! Please review to tell me what you think.**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned RWBY renora would have been cannon a long time ago.**

Nora was standing in the middle of flames. The building that surrounded her was on fire. The flames seemed to lick the sky above her as screams echoed from beyond the flames. Pain pricked her where the flames made contact with her skin, as she watched in horror as figures of shadows were cast on the flames. Blood pooled on the ground where she stood. She felt as tiny as she did when she had seen this the first time.

She closed her eyes and prayed for the horrors around her to go away. She just wanted Ren to be there; she wanted to be back with Ren in the real world.

When she opened her eyes she stared right into the magenta orbs that she had wished for.

"Renny!" She cried with joy as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck allowing herself to relax. "I had such a bad dream."

"Nora, why did you do it?" Nora pulled away and looked up at her lifelong friend with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?"

"You kill everyone you love." Her eyes widened as she saw a trickle of blood come from the corner of his mouth. Her eyes shifted down and she gasped in horror as she noticed a red stain that was growing over his stomach.

"Ren!"

"Everyone you love dies Nora. It's your fault! Why do you kill us Nora?" His harsh tone as he accused her seemed to force her to take a step back before he collapsed.

"No!" Nora shot forward, catching his head and cradling it in her lap. She sobbed as she brushed his hair from his face. Blood stained his face with his eyes closed. He almost looked peaceful.

"No! Ren! Wake up!" Her tears had clogged her throat as she shook his shoulders in vain. "Please Renny! Please wake up! I can't do any of this without you! Please wake up!" As the tears tracked down her face, her heart felt dead, as her biggest regret came to her. "I never even got to tell you I love you." She hung her head over the boy who she had been hopefully in love with since they were 16. Who she had never been able to tell that she loved with her whole heart.

"Ren!"

"Nora!"

She woke up with a start. A dull ache came from her ribs and her ankle, but none of that mattered. Straight in front of her were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

"Ren," she found herself wrapped in his arms as her tears fell from her face.

"Bad dream?" His voice was the most gorgeous sound in her ears. "It's okay, it's over now." He rubbed her back as the memories of the day before came rushing back to her.

"Pyrrha?"

She felt Ren give a small nod. Her throat felt like it was closing up. Though Ren dying may have been just a dream, it was clear that Pyrrha's death unfortunately did not share the same fate.

Her gaze became blurred as her eyes filled with tears that overflowed and cascaded down her face. She clenched Ren's shirt tightly in her hands, feeling her tears soak the bleached fabric of the shirt he was wearing. Her sobs were muffled in his shirt as he held her close. She heard a hush sniffle through her own muffled sounds of grief.

They sat there for a while, clinging to each other. Even in the darkest times, they were still together, and to Nora, at that moment, was all that mattered.

After a while she felt Ren pull away from her. She saw that the thin cotton of his shirt was now soaked with her tears. The salty moisture made his shirt stick to him, with the white material now all but transparent. She felt color rush into her cheeks as she stared at the way that she could make out the muscles of his chest.

Ren must have misunderstood the cause for her suddenly red cheeks as he pulled her chin up to look at her. He gently brushed the tears off her cheeks as Nora felt her cheeks.

"It's okay, we can change in a little while. Besides, it'll dry in a few minutes." She looked up into her best friend's eyes and saw that they were a lighter shade of pink than his irises. Some tears still remained in his eyes and she watched one that still sat on his cheek. Without thinking about it she reached up and wiped the tear from his cheek, much like he did with her.

The small gesture of affection caused Ren's mouth to turn up in one corner, causing her heart rate to pick up a little.

"Are you okay?" The simple question hit Nora.

The answer she gave was a small shake of her head. No, she was not okay. They had lost someone else. There was no escaping it, Pyrrha was dead. Someone else who she loved was dead. She knew that realistically she had nothing to do with it, and she couldn't have stopped it, but still. She should have tried to stop Jaune and Pyrrha from leaving. They should have all stayed together. Maybe then team JNPR would still be okay. They would still be okay.

Ren's hand rubbing circles on her back brought her back to reality. Her breathing was ragged and it became clear that she had been bordering on hysterics again. She took deep breaths to calm herself. Once her breathing was back to normal, she looked up at Ren's worried magenta eyes.

"You?" It seemed all she could manage was that one word as her voice broke.

"No, we lost someone. I think it will take time for any of us to be okay."

They sat there for a while, having cried themselves out. They listened to the sounds of the other patients and the noises of the medics running around.

Eventually a nurse came around and gave them some rations and water. Nora was aware of Ren watching her as she picked at the food. Knowing that he wouldn't be happy until she had at least tried to eat all her food, she took a small bite of the food. It tasted like cardboard, she couldn't seem to taste whatever the food was. But Ren nodded and started to eat his own food.

Soon after they had finished eating they heard someone walk in. Nora turned and saw a very ruffled looking Jaune with a bag hanging from his hand. Dark circles were evident under his eyes, along with clear evidence of tears that he must have just wiped away.

Ren was quick to his feet, positioning himself slightly in front of her. Nora knew that he hadn't forgotten about Jaune being a little rough with her the night before.

"It's fine Ren. I'm sober now. Got one hell of a hangover, but sober." Jaune stepped forward with his hands out to the older boy as if he was showing that he was unarmed.

Ren looked Jaune over, before Nora saw his stance relax and he took a small step back and to the side so he almost stood next to her.

Jaune's gaze shifted from the resident ninja onto the usually hyper orange haired girl who sat slumping in on herself on the bed.

"I'm so sorry for last night Nora. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you." Guilt clouded Jaune's eyes as he looked to her. Searching her face for forgiveness.

Nora managed to summon a small smile to reassure him that she forgave him. Jaune returned her small smile with his own.

"How are you two holding up?" Jaune asked directing it to both of them.

"About as well as can be expected. What about you Jaune?" Ren's voice had taken on a softer tone than he had when he spoke to Jaune before.

Jaune's shoulders shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I didn't believe it at first, then they brought me this," he reached into the bag and pulled out Pyrrha's golden crown. Ren stiffened. Nora felt the blood leave her face as she went to grasp Ren, catching his hand and searching for whatever strength he could give her. "Then I was mad. I was so angry and upset, I went on a rampage. Ended up finding a bar that had been abandoned and tried to escape it all. You two know what happened after that." He let out a dark chuckle before continuing, "Now... I don't know, I feel numb in a way. Almost like I'm dead on the inside. It's like I have no more energy to grieve. I'm still mad, and I'm still sad, and I don't know, I think it will hit me again eventually. But for right now, I just feel sort of dead."

Ren nodded slightly, "Everybody grieves in their own way Jaune."

Jaune gave a sad nod. "I guess so. Has the doctor came back yet?"

"No, we are waiting. After he checks on Nora we should be able to leave."

"Good, good." Jaune looked away from Ren in order to give Nora a smile. "The dorms were damaged during the attacks. They aren't letting many people in. But I was able to get a change of clothes for you two after I got professer Port to help." He put the bag that contained their clothes on the bed. "They are setting up refugee camps around the city, and there is one not too far from here. I went and had them make sure there is room for the three of us. They need helpers around the camp. We can go there when Nora is able to leave. They said we can stay as long as we need to."

"That's good. But what about your family?"

"It's next to impossible to get any message through a scroll right now. The tower is destroyed, so the signal is out for the time. But they do have stations that are getting messages out. I was able to get in line for one this morning. I spoke to my parents. I told them that I was fine, but I couldn't come home, not for a while at least." Jaune crossed the small area and put his hand on Ren's shoulder. "The three of us stick together, no matter what. I refuse to leave you two on your own here. Pyrrha would want us to stick together. Besides, we're family now." His eyes moved from Ren to Nora as he kneeled in front of her and held her hands gently in his own. "All of us are family. I will never leave you two or let anything happen to either of you." He gave a reassuring smile to Nora. Nora felt the grief and sadness lift ever so slightly with the kind look in Jaune's eyes as she was able to give him a small, but genuine smile. Jaune stood up enough to wrap Nora in his arms. "We are going to be fine." Nora watched as Jaune pulled Ren into the hug. "All of us."

They all sat there for some time, Nora feeling warm and safe in the arms of her teammates.

After about five minutes the doctor finally came in to check on Nora, splitting up their group hug.

After he gave her a quick look over, he concluded that her aura had managed to heal her ribs for the most part and she could walk on her ankle once again. He gave them permission to leave as soon as they were dressed as long as Nora took it easy for the rest of the day. The doctor worked to take off Nora's bandages and was out again within 10 minutes of coming in.

As soon as the doctor had left, Jaune opened his bag and handed them the changes of clothes he had grabbed.

Jaune left the area for a minute while Nora and Ren dressed themselves. After they had both changed they collected their weapons and followed Jaune.

Nora's ankle did feel a lot better, but it still felt sore to walk on. They went slowly, making their way through the destruction.

When they finally got to the camp they found a sea of tents and people going about their business. Jaune led them to a small tent in the crowded area. The tent wasn't anything special. It was just taller than Jaune, and made out of cheap canvas-like material with two flaps on one side to act like an entrance. It was about 16ft by 16ft, about the same size or smaller than all of the tents that surrounded it. The tent was slightly propped on the ground by a wooden platform that was laid underneath.

They stepped inside, and Nora found that the area had been divided by a long set of curtain hanging from the top of the tent. On either side of the curtains there were two small cots with some mismatched blankets and pillows. There was also a small desk on either side and a wooden box at the end of each cot to keep belongings in.

"People started working during the attack, and they were able to set up a lot of tents. They even made a few specifically for teams from the schools so they could stay together. Still, a lot of people brought their own were a few extras left, and when I explained our situation earlier they gave us permission to use this one." Jaune turned and smiled at the partners. "I came by and hung up the curtains earlier, figured it would be good in case Nora wanted her own area, or if you and Nora would prefer you two can have one side and I can take the other."

"Thank you Jaune." Ren put his hand on the taller boy's shoulder.

Nora and Ren didn't have much with them, pretty much just their weapons, which they both sat on beds next to each other.

They spent the rest of the day cleaning their weapons and getting settled in their new accommodations. Jaune sat down and wrote letters to team RWBY. According to him, Weiss had been taken home by her father and Yang and Ruby had also been taken home. He didn't know where Blake was though. He had told Ren and Nora that Ruby had been found on the rooftop after the fight and had been unconscious when they had taken her home.

They all worked until it was time for dinner. They went down to the makeshift mess hall and grabbed some rations that had been prepared and took seats on the boxes and planks of wood that were serving as makeshift tables and chairs.

Nora didn't feel any appetite for the food placed in front of her. She felt a little empty inside, but she felt no hunger. She sat there just moving the food around her plate until she looked up. Ren was sitting next to her, while Jaune was busy wolfing down his food. Ren was watching her from the corner of his eye. He had a look of concern on his face until she lifted her fork and took a bite. His posture eased a bit as he watched her eat. She continued to eat until her plate was empty, despite the fact that the food only served to make her stomach turn.

That night Nora woke up in a cold sweat, Ren's name still on her lips as she caught her breath. This time Ren had died in the building that was consumed by flames. The flames had avoided her like she was made of water, but they had eaten Ren like he was a piece of tinder.

When she didn't see Ren, she panicked, searching the room for him before she saw that he had reached the edge of her bed and was trying to calm her. Ren ended up pushing his cot next to her's and held her as they fell back asleep.

Within the next few days they all received their working assignments. Jaune had requested to be put on patrol duties, Ren was assigned to work in the kitchens, and Nora was assigned cleaning duty.

Soon enough they all fell into a routine. They would wake up and get dressed together, and then see each other off for the day. Jaune always left first, promising to stay safe and see them that night. Next Ren would hug Nora and tell her to take care of herself until they got to see each other again that night.

Nora enjoyed the mindless tasks that clean up allowed her. She could shut down her mind for a few hours while she worked. After the first day, she started skipping the breakfast bar they provided her in order to get straight to work. She looked forward to lunch and dinner break at first, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ren. But it soon became obvious that they had placed him in the kitchen and not serving. Within a week, she stopped taking breaks all together, working till the end of the day.

She always made her way as quick as possible to their tent after work. It was always dark by the time she arrived. When she got back Ren was already there, relaxing on their bed.

She would join him, cuddling into his side. A few minutes after she arrived Jaune would come in. They would all sit around the two desks that had been pushed together to form a table. Jaune would lean back in his chair and tell them about his day, and more days than not, some thankful or pitying civilian would give him a treat. Fresh baked bread, candy, fresh fruit, always a little something. He would set it on the table and split it between the three of them.

Soon, this became the only food Nora could bring herself to eat.

At night she would fall asleep next to Ren, and every night, without fail, she would wake up screaming his name. Her dreams never failed to find new ways to torture her. Ren died in more ways than she could count, and every time he would blame her. Sometimes Jaune would also be there, sometimes even Pyrrha would show up too. Those had a particularly bad affect on her. Sometimes team RWBY was there, sometimes not everyone died, but Ren always died.

But life continued, as it all blurred together. Their time together at night grew shorter as Nora's energy drained. She felt like her body would give up on her. She barely spoke, not trusting her voice anymore. Day after day passed, she could see Ren was starting to take notice as her clothes didn't seem to fit right anymore. His face grew concerned as her clothes began to hang off her. Eventually Jaune also started looking at her with concern. Jaune received word from Ruby that she and Yang were okay, he continued to write them.

Her once endless energy and happiness had fallen away like the disguise it was. Her once toned body started to show bones that Nora had forgotten she had. Her world had turned gray, and she felt like any emotion had left her.

She decided to ignore it, and she continued to work. Then one day, while she was working on shoveling some rubble from a building that had been destroyed, she started to feel dizzy. Trying her best to shake it off, she kept working. Black dots started to appear in her line of vision, her body swayed as she felt the earth calling to her. She felt the blackness consume her before her body hit the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! So sorry that this chapter is a day late, but I did make sure it was a long one. I'm sorry if there is a lot of errors this chapter, my usual editor is busy** **studying** **for a test. Thank you so much to all of you who commented, when I saw the comments and read them I ended up crying at of happiness. Thank you all! I hope you all like this chapter, I'll make sure to update on time next week. Please comment! You have no idea how happy that makes me!**

 **Disclaimer: *sigh* I would love it, but I do not own RWBY**

Ren fell easily into his role in kitchen duty. Cooking for Nora and himself since they were kids made him comfortable with the work he was provided there. The work was easy, chopping, stirring, and cooking. He worked to make their rations into at least somewhat appetizing meals. The job kept him busy and kept his mind occupied, it kept him moving through his grief.

Slowly though his peace that he felt started to fall away.

He knew that Jaune had chosen to take up security because of his own grief. Jaune needed to keep moving and keep fighting, he couldn't stand still or he would be consumed. Ren wasn't to worried about Jaune, he had seen that Fox and Coco from team CFVY were with Jaune, and he trusted the older students to watch after his team leader. Ren himself just tried his best to just keep moving himself, using his semblance to help quell some of the grief at first. But after the first couple of weeks he felt himself get a firm hold on his mourning as he kept moving forward.

Soon though he felt like the grief over losing Pyrrha was small in comparison to the worry that started to naw at him. He told himself that at least Pyrrha could be in a better place, at least she never had to worry, feel pain, or feel fear ever again, the same could not be said for Nora.

Ren was reminded of when they had first met. Nora had been so quiet and shy. Ren at one point had been the talkative one in comparison, always approaching people first and making sure they had enough. Nora used to have days where she would shut down, she would refuse to eat or talk at all, it was Ren's job on these days to put food in front of Nora and make sure she ate it.

It wasn't till they were 12 that their roles became what they were. It was after their first year of training at Anima's specialized school for young future hunters and huntresses. They had been very lucky to find that anyone could go if they could get there. The school had provided them two hot meals a day, free medical attention when they needed it and clean uniforms, along with education and training. It was the summer after that the real struggle came. While they had had to fend for themselves, it hadn't been long term, but now they had to survive over 2 months on their own again. They had been fine for the first month, living off the street and begging for food and scavenging for what little they could find.

It was after a month that Ren ended up falling ill. For the first few days he tried to shake it off, if only for the sake of a worried Nora. Eventually though his fever grew too much and Ren's memory blanked out for about a month. He found out later that he had been out for most of that month, occasionally waking up for a few minutes, enough to be fed or to utter something before going back to sleep. When he finally was able to retain consciousness and any memory he found that he was in a home for homeless and orphaned children. Nora had been curled up right next to him. Feeling him stirring he remembered Nora's head popping up from the pillows where her head had been buried. He had been shocked to see tear tracks down Nora's cheeks. But the part that always stuck out to him was the smile that had lit up her faced when he said her name in a hoarse voice while looking up at his best friend. Tears had streamed down her face as a bubbly laugh escaped her lips. She had flung her arms around him, her hug had been so tight that he had worried that he may black out again. He was worried as he heard her muffled sobs as she whispered his name. It was after he asked her if she was okay that she just started to babble on and on about seemingly nothing. At first he thought that the changes would be temporary, caused by her worry for him. It soon became clear that this was not the case. The changes had stayed, and after a little while he had gotten used to the changes. He became accustomed to her new bubbly persona, after a little while he was able to see past it. It took months of watching her, but eventually he saw past her constant babbling and was able to interpret it into coherent thoughts and meanings. She was still his best friend and his family, and he would never leave her. But after that day he always wondered as to what happened to Nora in that month to make her change so drastically?

But now he had another reason to worry. At first he had simply hoped that Nora would go back to how she had been the past 5 years of their lives. But that seemed like it had been years ago instead of just a few weeks. When he looked at her, he couldn't help but remember the skinny little girl who had been scavenging to survive. As time went on that even that memory seemed to fall to the side as his worry for her grew.

Her once bubbly personality seemed to have fallen to the side. She had once walked with a little bounce in her step, head held high, now she seemed to drag with her shoulders hunched over. Her smiles had fallen, you could see that she was struggling to keep any semblance of a smile on her face.

He got back to the tent before her every night due to the hours at the kitchen. He would clean himself up in the public washrooms that had been set up a few tents down from them. He would come back and relax on his bed with a book he had found. Nora would walk in, he always would hear her tired footsteps. He would set his book down as she made her way to the beds they had pushed together so they could sleep together. She would walk over to him before collapsing on the bed and curling into his side. He wrapped his arms around her. You would think this would be one of the best parts of his day, but after the first few days he saw that the light in Nora's eyes had died, whenever Ren looked at her he felt fear grip him that something may be wrong. His mind would race as he worried that he may have missed something. So he held her in his arms.

He would feel her body relax into his as they sat there. He started reading to her during these times, he wasn't sure if she actually heard what he was saying, but she seemed to relax with his voice.

When Jaune showed up Ren and Nora would listen to his stories. Ren was able to relax some whenever Jaune brought food and he saw Nora eating what was put in front of her.

When they did get some sleep, Ren would hold Nora to try his best to protect her against what he knew was coming. He would be woken up a few hours later to Nora thrashing and trying to break his hold on him. Her screams seemed to echo as she screamed his name. Her cries would dissolve into sobs as he shook her trying to wake her. When she wake up there were tears streaming down her face as he hugged her close till she fell back to sleep. Sometimes there would only be one of these incidents, other times he would be woken up every hour to her cries.

What Nora didn't know was that her screams didn't just wake him up. Every night Jaune would shuffle past the curtain and take the chair next to Ren after Nora had fallen had fallen back to sleep to reassure Ren that Nora would be back to normal soon. But after a while Ren wasn't sure if he should believe him.

Another cause for concern for Ren was he started noticing when he held Nora her body was growing smaller. Her once custom fitted skirt and blouse started to not quite fit her, looking like it was just a little too big on her. He started to pay attention to Nora. As the weeks went on he noticed that her clothes began to hang off her. Nora's once fit body seemed to be melting away. Her face grew thin, her eyes hollow, and all the color seemed to have drained from her.

Due to the worry Ren had for Nora and since it looked like she wasn't eating he made sure he was moved from the kitchen to serving the next week. Ren was quick to pick up his duty so he didn't have to think about it. Instead he focused on all the people who came by for food, looking for his little orange haired best friend to come get lunch or dinner. After his first two days he felt the worry like a small animal in his guts, gnawing at him and trying to get out. He found himself not being able to meet Nora's eyes. He felt guilty for going through this complex way to see if she was eating, instead of just asking her. But he wasn't sure if she would answer.

It was the third day of his new work that he finally snapped.

That morning he walked with Nora since her clean up group had moved closer to the cafeteria. When he hugged her goodbye he realised how much harder it was to leave her everyday. He tried his best to shake it off as he walked in to help prepare the cafeteria and serve breakfast for those whose jobs didn't provide it, or who worked the night shifts. It was as he was setting up his station that he was snapped out of the trance he had fallen in in preparation for looking everywhere for Nora in vain.

"Ren?" Ren felt his muscles tense as a hand rested on his shoulder. He turned on his heels to see a certain bunny Faunus looking at him with her hands up like she was trying to calm him.

"Velvet." He felt himself relax a bit the sight of the older student.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Velvet cocked her head, her ears drooping slightly with a look of worry on his face.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm good, my team's in a tent right by your's." Velvet gave a small pause while biting her lip like she was wondering if she should say anything. "We heard about Pyrrha. Team CFVY would like to extend their condolences. If you, or the others, need anything just come to us."

Ren felt his body stiffen again at the mention of his now deceased team mate. "Thank you, I will make sure to pass it along to Jaune and Nora." Ren gave her a nod before turning back to his station.

"Are you sure you are okay Ren?"

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"It's just," Velvet's ear gave a nervous twitch. "You seem like you aren't really here. Coco says that Jaune seems like he's doing okay, but he seems more violent and on edge. Then there's Nora…"

Velvet trailed off as Ren twirled around, looking at Velvet who now had her head cast down. If she knew something he didn't about Nora, he needed to find out about it.

"What about Nora?"

Velvet looked up at him and he could see the sadness in her eyes. "Ren, we hear her screams at night. Jaune told Coco and Fox about her nightmares. And Yatsuhashi…"

"Velvet, what about Yatsuhashi?"

"He works on the cleanup crew with her. He said that he can barely recognize her. That she doesn't smile, that she seems quiet and worn done. He says that he doesn't see her eat anymore, that she looks like a skeleton. We're really worried about her Ren."

Ren felt like his energy had been zapped as he slumped against the wall behind him as he slid to the ground, closing his eyes as Velvet crouched in front of him.

"Me too. I'm so worried about her Velvet. I don't know what I would do without her." Ren felt himself falling apart as he rested his head on his knees.

He felt Velvet's small hand touch his shoulder. "We are here for you."

He looked up and gave Velvet the best smile he could. "Thank you."

The rest of the day passed in a blurr. His mind was solely on Nora, and how he was going to fix her. One thing was clear, Nora was starving and suffering, and he just wanted it to end.

When he got back to the tent all he could do is collapse on the bed as he waited for Nora. Nora got home later that night. Ren watched her as she kicked off her shoes and walked over to him. He tried to imagine what she had looked like just month ago. Pulling up that image made him want to puke. In comparison, his current Nora looked sick ghost haunting the tent.

He tried to push it out of his mind as Nora sat next to him. He couldn't help himself from pulling her close to him. She happily curled into him. He hoped that she didn't feel him stiffen when he felt her ribs digging into him from below her shirt. He reluctantly loosened his grip in fear that he would crush her.

It was only a few minutes later that Jaune came to the tent. Ren was careful to prop himself and Nora up as Jaune shoved one of the desks in front of him next to where the other two were sitting. He placed a small cloth bag on the table before pulling up a chair and opening the small bag to reveal a small roll of bread, placing it in front of Nora. Ren and Jaune had long since stopped having any of these late night snacks, instead trying to get Nora to eat something. Of course, it was never much, but at least it was something.

Nora's hand reached out to take the bread taking a small bite out of it before looking at Ren and seeing he didn't have anything.

"Ren?" Her voice had became hoarse from lack of use.

"Ren and I already ate our rolls" Jaune quickly piped up.

Nora simply nodded and gave them both a small smile before continuing to nibble on her roll. Jaune told them about his day, but Ren could barely pay attention as he watched Nora.

When Jaune finished he bid them both goodnight. Nora went to get changed on the other side of their area. Ren felt the curiosity and worry build up in him as he slowly turned to look towards where Nora was changing.

He felt bile rise up in his throat. Her skin looked like it was paper thin, stretched over over her skeleton. He could make out way too many bones. She looked like a starved and beaten dog as opposed to an actual human. She looked like the pictures they had seen of people who had been tortured and starved.

He quickly turned away without Nora having seen him. He felt shame and guilt for betraying his long time friend's trust. But that was overpowered by the anger of seeing her like this. He felt himself shaking as the fear hit him along with the anger. It was at that moment that he decided that something had to happen as soon as possible.

He managed to calm himself down enough that Nora wouldn't notice. He didn't want to take any chances of scaring her away.

He laid there that night, holding Nora, but he couldn't sleep. He felt sick with worry and fear for the small girl that laid in his arms.

Eventually he couldn't take it any longer. He couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he may try. He gently pulled away from Nora as he stood up slowly, standing still for a few seconds to make sure she wouldn't wake up. She just shifted a bit and never came out of the deep sleep she was in.

Ren was quick to make his way out of the tent. As soon as he was out he sat down outside the tent and took a deep breath as he looked up at the stars. He began to mediate in an effort to calm himself and get himself back together before he went back in in order to sleep. After a few minutes he heard soft footsteps coming out of the tent and stopping next to him. He looked up, half expecting to see Nora, but instead Jaune stood above him.

"May I sit here?" The blonde haired boy asked. Ren gave a small nod as the other boy sat down next to him. Neither looked at each other for a few long minutes. "What do we do now?"

Ren looked over at Jaune as he broke the silence.

"Pyrrha... Pyrrha is… Pyrrha is not coming back." The blue eyed boy said with a noticeable lump in his throat that he cleared before continuing."But there is nothing any of us can do about that. No matter how much we want to. But now with Nora…" The boy trailed off before looking towards Ren. "Has she told you anything? Do you know if she is even eating other then when I bring stuff? I mean I know why she is like this. Everyone grieves differently and all that. But I don't understand how she changed so completely over night."

"No" Ren kept his voice calm ashe spoke. The blonde looked down at him in confusion.

"No?"

"No. Nora has not told me anything. No. Nora is not eating. Yes. I understand why she is like this. At least I know that this isn't as out of character as you would think."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ren let out a small sigh as he began. "Do you remember how Nora and I met?" Jaune gave a small nod as Ren continued. "Well, Nora was a lot different back then than she was when you first met her. Though she wasn't as extreme as this, Nora was really shy. She would often have a hard time talking to others, I had to take care of most of our interactions for the first four years of our friendship. There were times in there where something would happen that would put either Nora or I in danger, I mean, what more can you expect, we were two little kids on the street. After these events, Nora would often go into "Zombie Mode", which is basically what she is in now." Ren paused as he looked at Jaune who was intently listening. "What worries me is that it has never lasted this long before."

Ren looked down at his lap as they sat there in mutual silence, just thinking for a few minutes.

"We need to do something."

"You don't think I don't know that!" Ren snapped, causing Jaune to jump as he looked at the normally calm boy. "Nora is all I have Jaune. She is my family and my home. She is my everything! If I were to lose her, I'm not sure what would happen to me at this point."

Ren felt the other boy's hand on his shoulder. "I know Ren. I know. Nora's going to be okay, she's strong. Do you have any idea of what to do?"

Ren took a few deep breathes as he calmed himself to the best of his abilities. "Tomorrow I'm going to talk to the people in the kitchen about Nora taking on work with me. With any luck she should be working with me by the day after. At least then I can keep an eye on her."

Jaune nodded his head. "That sounds like a good start. We can figure out where to go from there." Jaune stood up and started to head to the door. "We should both at least try to get some sleep."

Ren just nodded as he began to stand up. "I'm sorry Jaune." Jaune looked back at the smaller man and gave him a lopsided smile.

"It's fine Ren. I get it. For you two, losing the other would be a fate worse than death." He let out a dark chuckle. "I think I figured that out pretty early on to be honest. That's just how your relationship works. Even if you two aren't "together-together" like Nora always claims, you are still about as close as two people can get. And don't worry, I'm not going to ask you if you have feelings for Nora. If you two do have feelings for each other I feel like it will come out eventually. But just know, you two aren't alone anymore. You have me. I'm always going to be here for you two now. Whether you like it or not." Ren looked up at the taller boy had couldn't help giving him a small smile back.

It was at that moment that a blood curdling scream came from the tent.

"Ren! Ren! Ren! No!"

Ren's blood turned cold as Jaune stepped out of his way and he dashed inside to find Nora violently thrashing in bed.

"Ren! Don't leave me! Come back Ren! Ren!"

Ren launched himself over to the bed and crouched over Nora as he grabbed her shoulders and started trying to wake her.

"Nora! Nora, wake up! I'm right here!"

After a few seconds of shaking her and calling her name Nora's body jerked awake. She sat up as her eyes flew open immediately seeking Ren's. As soon as her blue eyes found his pink eyes she threw her arms around him as the tears started to fall.

He sat with her in his arms, rubbing her back as she cried.

"It's okay Nora. It was just a dream. I'm here now."

Jaune watched the scene from the corner of the room before nodding at Ren and crossing over to his own room.

Nora eventually fell back to sleep and stayed asleep. Ren fell asleep a few minutes after her.

The next day Ren made sure to get to work a few minutes early and went to go talk with one of the overseers at the cafeteria. Luckily, after explaining it to them and promising Nora was more than capable to do the job they told him that she could start the next day.

Ren was relieved and was quick to share the new with Velvet.

"That's great!" The excited bunny faunus declared. "It'll be great to get to see and talk to Nora!"

"Yeah, yeah it will be." Ren agreed with a smile.

Ren was in a much better mood than he had been in the last month as he worked that day. The aspect of having his childhood friend with him the next day, and hopefully healing herself, put him in an almost cheerful mood. That is till he felt everything shatter.

It was after lunch, and other than a few stragglers the crew was sent to clean the tables of the moderate sized cafeteria.

It was while Ren was working on sweeping the area by the counter when he heard a crowd come in the opposite side of the cafeteria. He didn't think much of it, just assumed that it was a rowdy crowd who was late for lunch. That is, until he heard Velvet say his name.

"Ren?" Velvet wasn't standing far from him, but was staring at where the crowd was. Her eyes were big, her ears were perked up, and her voice was full of fear. "Look." She pointed to where the crowd was.

Ren whipped his head around. It looked like the group was made up of about 6 people, most of which were students he recognized from Beacon. His eyes were immediately drain to the giant that was Yatsuhashi. But then Ren noticed that Yatsuhashi was holding something, or someone.

Ren felt his stomach drop as he made out a too familiar head of ginger hair and an ill fitting pink skirt. Ren felt his body moving before his brain had even fully comprehended what was happening.

He bolted over chairs and tables that happened to be in his way in his mad dash. When he reached them Yatsuhashi had just laid Nora down on one of the tables near them as he barked orders to the others.

"You, Go get some cool, wet rags! You, go get the medics now! You, go get some sort of cushions and blankets! You, go get some broth and water for when she wake up! And someone please go find Jaune Arc and tell him what happened!"

Ren was next to the small girl who wasn't moving as he felt like all his breath had been taken. She looked so small, so breakable, laying there. She wasn't moving, Ren was to scared to see if she was breathing as Yatsuhashi booming voice never seemed to meet his ears.

"Is she…" Ren finally forced out, not able to complete his thought in pure fear.

"She'll be fine." Yatsuhashi tried to comfort the smaller boy as he put one of his large hand on his shoulder.

Ren let out a breath of relief as he noticed her chest moving up and down with her breaths. He gently cradled her small hand in both of his.

"What happened?" He asked, unable to take his eyes off of Nora's peaceful looking face.

"I'm not sure. One minute she was working, then she started to sway and started to crumple. Luckily I was close enough to catch her before her head hit anything hard. She probably just passed out from lack of nutrition and water."

He looked at Nora's still form. She looked like a gust of wind could have snapped her. He felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

"This is my fault." the whisper didn't even sound like him. Hoarse and gravelly, you could hear the emotions that he was trying his best from clouding himself.

"It's not your fault Ren." Velvet had made her way to beside him and had her small hand on his shoulder in an act to comfort him. "She's going to be alright." Suddenly Nora's eyelids started to flutter as she began to wake. "See"

Ren Didn't hear Velvet as he got closer to Nora. Keeping her hand gripped in his as his other hand reached up to brush her cheek.

"Nora?"

Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name. Ren couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the sight of her sky blue eyes looking up at him curiously.

"Hey Ren. What's going on?" She had a small frown on her face that was all too familiar. It was the same one she wore in class or when he forced her to study and there was a concept that she didn't quite grasp. The familiar look and the sound of her tired voice made another wave of relief wash over Ren as he pulled her into a hug.

"You passed out. Gave everyone a little bit of a scare." Yatsuhashi deep voice answered, reminding Ren that there were others there. He gently let Nora go, Nora looked at him in confusion and he signalled that he would talk to her later. He really didn't want to do it here in front of everyone.

As he and Velvet were helping Nora sit up, one of the medics came in. The medic was quick to examin Nora, asking how she was feeling and what she remembered. After a couple of minutes the medic concluded that Yatsuhashi had been right.

"Looks like you just passed out. Probably from exhaustion and lack of nutrition. Which should be address." The medic placed her hand on Nora's shoulder and addressed her in a soft voice. "You were lucky this time sweety. It looks like you're not eating like you should, and that can be really dangerous in the long run. Especially with the strenuous work you've been assigned. I'm going to prescribe that you get tomorrow off to rest. The kitchen should supply what you need to eat. You're not going to want to eat anything rich for a few days. I'm also going to need to talk about taking you off clean up duty."

"That's okay miss." Ren interrupted, still sitting next to Nora. Nora had grabbed his hand and wasn't letting go. "I already requested that she be moved to cafeteria and kitchen duty with me."

The medic nodded as Nora sent him a curious look. "Very well. I presume then that you can look after her recovery then?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Very well then, I will talk to the supervisor and get you excused for tomorrow as well."

Ren nodded. "Thank you ma'am."

"It's no problem. Take care of yourselves."

After the medic had left Velvet reassured Ren that she had everything under control in the cafeteria so he could go back to their tent with Nora.

"I'll come and check on you two later. I'll send Yatsuhashi with food in a few minutes."

Ren placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder and gave her a nod and small smile, hoping that she would know how thankful he was.

The walk back to the tent took longer than usually. Nora's earlier fainting spell seemed to have taken it's toll on her as she leaned on Ren to support her weight as they walked. They spent the trek back to their tent in relative silence.

When they reached the tent ren helped Nora down on the bed and propped her up to make her comfortable. He felt himself turned on autopilot as he went to get some water for Nora, and went around cleaning and making sure she was comfortable.

"I'm sorry."

The quiet whisper caused Ren's movements to stop as he turned around to look at Nora.

"I'm so sorry Ren." Nora's eyes were cast on the ground as a tear slipped out.

"Why?" The question echoed through Ren's mind as he asked.

"I'm sorry. I made Jaune and you worry about me. And now you're upset and mad at me. I'm sorry" Nora's voice sounded uncertain as it cracked on the last sorry.

Ren slowly made his way over to the bed where Nora sat. Kneeling down in front of her and clasping her hands.

"I'm not mad. Worried and upset? Yeah. But I'm not mad at you. We all lost Pyrrha. I just wish you would talk to me."

Nora gave him a smile as she wiped away her tears. "I can work on that."

"Good." Ren gave Nora a smile that he saved solely for his best friend. As she gave him a smile back he felt that feeling well up in his chest again. The warmth spread through his body as he looked at her. Despite everything, he couldn't help but think that she was beautiful with her smile lighting up her face. "Tell me about your day." Ren prompted, hoping to just convince her to fill the silence like she always used to.

She started talking as he sat next to her. They laid back on the bed as Nora discussed her work on the cleanup crew and the people she worked with. Her words seemed less sure and her thoughts seemed harder to find as opposed to the long stream of thoughts that would usually blend together during her rants. But it was something, at least she was talking again.

It was during Nora's talk that Yatsuhashi came by and dropped off a big bowl of broth for Nora and a sandwich for Ren.

Ren quickly grabbed the other chair from Jaune's side of the tent before pulling out the desk that Jaune always pulled out at night and set it up for their lunch.

To Nora's dismay, Ren insisted on helping her to the makeshift dinner table.

"I'm not a doll Ren. I can walk on my own. I'm not going to break." Nora gave with a huff as she sat down at the table.

"I know. Just let me." For her part Nora didn't try to get away from him or fight him in anyway. Just rolled her eyes and let him help her.

They sat down and Ren watched as Nora ate her first spoonful of broth. He watched a smile appear at the edge of her lips.

"Is it any good?" Ren indicated to the bowl. Nora looked up at him. Her eyes held the smallest of gleams in them he realized.

"It's salty." She smiled at Ren with the small sparkle in her eyes. "Want to taste?"

"Sure." He accepted the spoon and took a small taste. To say it was salty was an understatement. It tasted like someone had just dumped a salt shaker into the pot along with a few other spices. Put then he looked at Nora as she eagerly ate. "Slow down. Don't make yourself sick." Nora looked up, she gave him a shy smile, and started to eat slower.

Ren worked through his sandwich as Nora worked on her bowl of food. After about halfway through the soup Nora put down her spoon and sat back. "I don't think I can eat any more."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I feel stuffed right now."

Ren nodded and stored helped Nora up. After depositing her on the bed he covered the broth and left it on the table.

"Let me know if you want any more later?"

Nora gave him a nod as they relaxed on the bed together. Ren eventually got Nora to start talking about a new movie they had seen during the vytal festival. They talked for a while about stuff that happened before everything went downhill. After a while Nora slowly drifted into sleep as they talked. Once she was in a deep sleep Ren heard hesitant footsteps enter the tent.

"Hey." Jaune's voice was hushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't get the message about what happened till about an hour ago. When I got to the tent I heard you talking. Then I heard Nora. I just couldn't bring myself to stop listening and interrupt." Ren looked up to see the taller boy with his eyes cast down with a soft look towards the girl that was asleep in his arms. "It's just been so long since I've heard her talk like that."

"I know." Ren said knowingly as he looked at Nora's sweet and peaceful face. For once she didn't look like she was haunted in her sleep.

"Is she doing better?"

"She ate a good bit." Ren jestered to the bowl still sitting on the table. "She's talking again. Also, I'm not sure how to describe it, but you can see a difference."

Jaune gave a knowing nod, "It's like she's coming back to life." there was a pause, "Do you think she's going to get back to how she was before?"

Ren shook his head when he looked up at his leader. "I don't think any of us will be. But we are all learning to adapt."

The two boys shared a smile.

An hour later Nora started to stirr. When she woke up she needed to use the restroom. Afterwards she was able to eat most of the rest of the soup.

Jaune had gotten off the rest of the day so they all sat together. Jaune shared some of his stories as he asked Nora little things to get her to join him. They talked till the sky had turned dark.

Around dinner time team CFVY came to their tent with vegetable stew for Nora and some food for the boys. Velvet ran in and enveloped Nora in a big hug as Nora grinned at the faunus girl. Coco was the next one, sitting on the bed beside Nora and giving her a gentle hug as she assured her that team CFVY was beyond happy that she was okay. Fox also sat down next to Coco. The blind boy reached out a hand and stroked Nora's sunken cheeks and gave her a warm smile. Yatsuhashi stood at the edge of her bed giving her his warmest smile.

Team CFVY stayed and talked as JNR ate their meals. Nora wasn't able to get through more than a third of the soup that had been given to her. She reassured Velvet and Coco that she would finish it later as the older team left.

True to her word after a rest Nora was able to eat more, after a few hours she finally finished it. Nora had a nightmare that night, but she didn't scream.

After the next day Ren and Nora quickly fell into a pattern of work. Nora would help prep everything in the kitchen and Ren would cook. Whenever there was extra for a recipe Ren did his best to slip it to Nora. They would eat together, for the first few days Ren would eat whatever they made in the kitchen for the day and Nora would eat some kind of soup, broth, or porridge. Ren watched as his best friend's sense of taste seemed to slowly return to her. Everyday the spark in Nora's eyes seemed to grow just a little more.

Velvet and Nora were quick friends. Whenever Ren left to do something he would find those two talking or just working together in the kitchen.

It was on their fourth day of work that Nora spoke up to Ren, " Hey, Ren?"

"Yes Nora?" Ren asked as he stirred at the pot he was working at.

"I want pancakes." Ren felt a smile break through at that simple sentence. It had been over a month since Nora brought up her favorite food.

"Is that right?" He turned around a raised his eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, do you think we can get some anytime soon?"

"You know what. When you can stomach a normal meal then I will make my special pancakes. How's that?"

Nora's eyes got a determined look in them as she nodded. "Deal!"

Three days later Nora managed to keep down a regular dinner from the kitchen.

True to his word, after two days to get the ingredients Ren made his special pancakes for teams JNR and CFVY.

Things were getting better. Nora's body slowly started to fill out her clothes once again. Her face gained color back to it. Her mood got better by the day. He could tell it was getting easier for her to smile.

Her nightmares started to become less intense and further apart. There were days where Nora slept completely soundly in his arms. There had only been a couple of nights where he woke up to her screaming his name.

As Nora improved, he felt his mood get better with hers. Which is why he was surprised that he was waken by Nora from a nightmare of his own about two weeks after her fainting incident.

Ren was usually good at blocking any dreams, good or bad. But for some reason this one slipped through.

In his dream Nora was standing in front of him. The ruins of his old village surrounded them. She looked like she did before the battle of Beacon. But her eyes looked dead, all spark was gone. Her face was contorted in fear and sadness.

"Ren!" She called over over the wind that was howling through the buildings.

Ren couldn't move as he saw an all too familiar shadowy figure come through the buildings. The scream shook the earth. Ren reached out to Nora calling her name.

In a split second they were transported onto the roof of Beacon, the place where the final fight of their friend had taken place.

"Ren! Save me!" Nora reached out for Ren as an arrow pierced her chest.

Ren watched in horror as the arrow penetrated Nora's chest.

"No!" Ren ran to his friend, catching her before she could fall. "It's okay Nora. I'm here now." Ren watched in horror as the Nora he held became to melt away as he stared down at a nearly starved girl. He face gaunt, eyes hollow, skin pale and thin.

"Why Ren? Why didn't you save me?" Nora breathed her last rattling breath, but her eyes never closed, still staring up at him as if accusing him.

"No! No! Nora! Nora come back! Don't do this! Please stop this! Nora!"

"Ren!"

He felt someone nudge his shoulder as he woke up to find Nora leaning over him. The pink was already returning to her plumper cheeks. She quickly wrapped her best friend in her arms.

"It's okay. I'm here now." She whispered as she held him.

"Aren't I supposed to be comforting you?"

"Well it's my turn now. So shut up."

Three weeks after Nora started working in the kitchen Ren could tell that she was starting to get antsy. Nora looked a lot better, you almost couldn't tell that she had been starving and weak three weeks ago. But she still didn't have the toned body that she once had.

Jaune decided to transfer Ren and Nora on to guard duty with him. Nora was excited and loved getting to use Magnhild again.

Ren and Jaune started to train Nora, within the next three weeks Nora looked almost like nothing had happened. Six weeks after Nora was brought into the cafeteria completely unconscious, she was fighting Grimm again. The light in her eyes was back. She demanded pancakes from Ren whenever she got the chance. Her energy and good mood were all back. Though she may not have been back 100%, Jaune and Ren were all too happy to have her back with them.

Nora's recovery had helped the other two boys get over their own grief.

It was at the seven week mark that Jaune received a letter from Ruby asking them to help her on her journey. They began to construct a plan.


	4. author note

Hello everyone! For those of you who have enjoyed my story and have been waiting for an update, I am really sorry to announce that I will not be continuing "The Lotus and the Hammer". While I did enjoy writing it, due to a mixture of writers block and my mental health being very poor recently, I am feeling like I am unfit to continue this story.

However, I would love for this story to be able continue, even if I am not the one continuing it. So, if you are interested please message me. If you want to pick it up, but you are un sure about where to go, I did have ideas for the future of the story that you can use, or you can go in your own direction. Please only message if you are serious about continuing. Ren and Nora deserve more good fanfiction.

I do plan to write more RWBY and Renora fanfictions eventually, and I hope y'all will come back and enjoy those when they come. Till then, I hope you all do well, and I'm sure whoever takes over this story is going to do a fantastic job!


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